Portuguese Champions Porto have told Manchester United and Tottenham they must stump up £30 million, or forget about signing Joao Moutinho this summer.

FC Porto’s Joao Moutinho has been linked with both Tottenham and Manchester United (Picture: Getty)

The midfield schemer is rated as one of the finest play-makers in Europe at present – a reputation he enhanced during Euro 2012, with a series of superb displays as Portugal reached the semi-finals.

Moutinho has been consistently linked with a move to the Premier League in the last few seasons, but that speculation has intensified since the Euros, with new Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas said to have made the 25-year-old his top target.

However, Manchester United have gone a step further, and lodged a £20 million bid for Moutinho, which was ultimatley rejected, with Porto refusing to sell on the cheap.

It’s a stance backed up by manager Vitor Pereira, who spoke this week to say the only way Porto would sell Moutinho, is if interested parties matched his buyout clause of £30 million:

‘Clubs cannot just not sell. We really want him to stay but this is football and there are such things as release clauses,’ Pereira told Abola.

‘The only thing we can do is achieve results with what we have got.’

Porto’s decision to hold firm on Moutinho’s buyout clause is expected to rule United and Tottenham out of the running, while only long-term admirers Chelsea could be tempted, if their alternative options fall through.

Moutinho, who has 48 caps for Portugal, is currently contracted to Porto until 2015.